Access real-time and historical freight market data through the Baltic Exchange’s RESTful API.
Designed for flexibility, the API allows members to create custom data feeds tailored to their operational needs. Whether you're tracking forward curves or physical market data, the API delivers structured JSON outputs for seamless integration into your systems.
Authentication is secure and straightforward, with API keys managed via the Baltic portal.
For further information please contact your local sales representative
 

User Guide
The User Guide provides best practices for importing Baltic data automatically to your systems.

User Guide
 

API - Frequently Asked Questions

I have access to api.balticexchange.com. Why can't I set up any feeds?

You will be able to navigate to the url (api.balticexchange.com), however in order to generate feeds and retrieve data, you must have an api key applied to your account login.
Please contact your local sales representative to discuss your api requirements.

Why are there rate limits applied to the API?

There are no restrictions from within the API portal (api.balticexchange.com). External calls (calls made outside of the portal) are rate limited.
 

The following table details the API limits on the endpoints:

Endpoint suffix

Limit (requests per hour)

/lastDatumChangeOn

Unlimited

/data

60

The following table details the limits within the portal (UI):

Function

Limit (requests per minute)

Adding a feed

1

Adding a source

12

Getting the last datum change on

Unlimited

Data request

60

Note, the limits are determined from the timestamp of the last request made.
 

External calls are limited made outside the API Portal are limited due to the potential size of the download request.

  • For Market data and Fixtures the limit is to 28 days of historical data

  • For FFA Trades it is 7 days of historical data

What is the default download period for API requests?

In the API Portal you can configure different download periods at the feed and the source level and the portal will construct a API feed URL for you for your preferred period.

The default is called “Latest” and this downloads data based on two criteria:

  • The last activity on the feed source, you can check this for a feed using https://api.balticexchange.com/api/swagger/ui/index#!/Feed/Feed_GetLatestDatumChangeOn

    • This stops the API feed returning no data if there has yet to be activity when you query the API feed.

  • A date period based on midnight UTC, there are different rules for different sources.

    • For Market Data and Fixtures sources “Latest” is 24 hours starting Midnight UTC based on last day of activity.

    • For FFA Data sources “Latest” covers a 48 hour period starting Midnight UTC from the day before the last day of activity.

FFA Data sources have a 48 hour period to cover traded on and cleared on dates.

What does 'View latest date change' within the API show?

The View latest date change shows a date based on the feed source.
The default period for an api request is the current day.

What's the best way to download bulk data?

Bulk data in this context means a number of sources up to 28 days for Market Data or 7 days for Trades that are updated on a regular basis.

A feed has one or more feed sources assigned to it. You can request data for a particular feed source but for bulk requests, it is better to request at the feed level

See the Swagger documentation for more info on how to use the following API call format

/{version}/feed/{feedApiIdentifier}/data

How do I get started creating a historic database of Baltic values?

Due to rate limiting in the API feed we recommend that you use the API Portal to download all historic data for the feed in a format that can be ingested into your database and then use the API feed to poll for new data on a daily basis to ensure your database is kept up to date.

For very large historic downloads via the API Portal your local browser may struggle depending on your machine system configuration and you may get a page unresponsive message.

While we look at alternatives to handle Browser limitations we recommend you select 'wait and allow the browser to complete the request'.

How can I get settlement values from the API?

We do not provide monthly settlement data directly.

Settlement values are not provided by default and can be calculated yourself. 

The settlement is an average of the daily rates over the month.

Calculate the average from the daily values to get a settlement value for either:

  • Entire Month
  • Last 7 days
  • Last 10 days

If you want to enquire about having settlement figures please contact your local sales representative.

Swagger 

Swagger provides a web-based interface for developers to explore the Baltic's Market Data API.  

It shows all the available endpoints of the API, grouped by functionality. You can see:

·       The HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.)
·       The endpoint URLs
·       Required parameters (query, path, headers, body
·       Response formats and status codes

You can interact with the API directly from the browser:

·       Add your api_key from the Baltic API Portal
·       Click "explore"
·       See the actual request sent and the response returned, including headers, body and status code

Swagger

 

Github

The Baltic Exchange public GitHub repository for practical code examples and best practices on using the Baltic Market Data API. Whether you're building from scratch or optimising existing integrations, our open-source snippets help you get started quickly and confidently.
Github

 

Videos

Prefer to learn visually?
Our video tutorials walk you through everything from logging into the portal to setting up feeds and retrieving data.
These short, focused videos are perfect for onboarding new users or refreshing your knowledge.

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